Covid cases in Hastings

[Richard]

More than ever before now, in this day and age of computer technology, people can easily connect to a work place from home, instead of physically setting out to work by car or public transport.
Public transport is an obvious weakness, where people come into close proximity.
London and other major cities have always had major car parking issues.
We therefore seem better able to manage and do business now, without making physical contact.
If this virus had appeared 50 years ago we would have been in a much worse place altogether.

[seahermit]

It isn't as simple as that. Avoiding the stress of commuting into work (and currently also avoiding close contact with other people on public transport, as well as contact with other employees at work) seems a very enticing idea. But there are many downsides to staying at home continuously and people report just those difficulties. Humans need some social interaction and being couped up day-to-day in the same surroundings without actual physical contact can be damaging psychologically. I know I would go off my head quickly in that sort of "work" environment (apart from the fact that many jobs cannot be done effectively without physical interaction - social, medical, tuition of one kind or other .. the list is endless).

It is also much more difficult to focus and work effectively in a home location, with countless potential distractions/interruptions - children, neighbours, the phone, the temptation to take breaks, make coffee, dawdle! People resort to various tricks in order to get into a "work mode" mentally - some have the luxury of a spare room from which they ban all family menbers etc. for a few hours. Some even change into work clothes at 9am! But others find it hard and lonely and I think the move towards remote, technologically-assisted working is a very two-edged sword.

I refuse to do phone or internet banking from home (until I am forced to). I tried the former briefly but frequently spent 15 minutes pressing different buttons and answering numerous questions before I could even access my account - in just five minutes I can walk into the bank, sort out a problem and get on my way walking in the sunshine. (Apart from the massive rise in internet fraud, the banks' denials that a problem exists and their general continuing inefficiency of course!).

How many times have you had problems with shopping, banking or other websites, spent ages trying to get through on a phone, given up and sent off an email - only to get no response at all or just a bland, automated promise which doesn't materialise? I think that computerisation has created distance and remoteness between humans, it has removed personal responsibility when things go wrong and it has created a great deal of frustration and stress.

There are many ways in which technology has made our lives easier, but the mass-computerisation of all business activities is driven by financial concerns and by business's obsession with reducing costs. It has nothing to do with caring about customers or providing a good, helpful and personal service.

Sorry Richard, you touched a nerve! I think the general move towards home-working will go in the other direction when the lockdown is over. It is not a natural way of living and working and many people will get fed-up with it.

[seahermit]

On a different note, when I saw the news of Trump's succumbing to the virus symptoms, I am afraid I burst out laughing. Not a worthy reaction on my part and I don't actually wish him further ill, but the rich irony of it overcame me.

Trump has consistently downplayed the virus pandemic and mocked health experts and other political leaders. But in my opinion Trump is slightly unhinged, he doesn't seem to be in control of even himself, let alone the USA, his erratic behaviour and outbursts of temper and frustration are not the traits of a balanced political leader in touch with reality and he has created extreme political and racial divisions and polarisation - whereas in modern times we desperately need a coming together and a unity. Surely one of the weirdest presidents ever to attain power?

[Richard]

There has been (still is) a massive move towards working from home, especially in payroll, tax, V.A.T. and I.T. (information technology).
Londoners working in those spheres are swarming to buy property away from the crowds and they are looking for places with garden space instead of flats.
Hastings has experienced great demand for property from London buyers, anxious to escape, in the past few months. Property and rents have fallen a little in London, but not here.
Of course some workers will always be needed on the ground in London but those that can now work from home will be looking at the alternatives elsewhere.

As for Trump, he always wanted a postponement of the election date.

[Richard]

People forget that Roosevelt had a temper. He stomped, he stormed, he beat his way through opposition like a dog on attack. The Chicago Tribune of the time publication reported:
“He snapped his teeth viciously, threw speeches like punches and understood the awesome power of the media. He campaigned through newspapers and witch hunts.” And, as the Tribune adds, "Roosevelt pioneered the art of spin, twisted facts and blasted enemies through explosive headlines.”

We often view Americans in power as drama-queens, unleashing a torrent of abuse at anything that stands in their way.
Trump is not really any different from many of his predecessors.

[seahermit]

Many politicians have a strong, aggressive personality towards opponents and have a keen eye for ways of manipulating the media and representing truth in their own creative ways. That is what the job is all about.

Trump is condemned not for being your typical politician but for NOT being clever in his politicing. He is an imbecile - hence the erratic behaviour, misjudged and abusive outbursts and incompetent management of different crises. Almost from the beginning of his term, he began to attract ridicule as he fell out with and sacked more of his advisors and administration officials than any president had ever done. He has caused offence and confusion amongst the world's leaders and it will take a long time for the USA to regain respect and be taken seriously.

[Richard]

Calling Trump an imbecile is loose talk.
George W Bush had – following the attacks of 9/11 – ordered the invasion of Afghanistan and would within six months decide that Saddam Hussein had to be removed, even if the Iraqi regime had no links to the attacks, and evidence suggesting it possessed weapons of mass destruction had to be fabricated to persuade the world of the righteousness of the cause.
Thousands of American and British troops were killed, and maybe more than one million Iraqi civilians lost their lives as a result of violence, disease and chaos.
Set against such human waste, Donald Trump is not, by any sensible means, the worst president of the last 10 years.
While critics frequently speak of concerns about Mr Trump’s impetuousness, a 2000 book, The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon, by Anthony Summers, reveals that Nixon was often so drunk and angry his aides feared he would trigger a nuclear war.
One occasion came in 1969 after a US spy plane was downed by North Korea over the Sea of Japan, killing 31 Americans. The book reports George Carver, the CIA’s top Vietnam specialist at the time, saying: “Nixon became incensed and ordered a tactical nuclear strike…The Joint Chiefs were alerted and asked to recommend targets, but [Henry] Kissinger got on the phone to them. They agreed not to do anything until Nixon sobered up in the morning.”

[seahermit]

It is quite true that no new wars have begun - yet- as a a consequence of Trump's style of foreign policy. But it has come very close to that several times concerning Iran and North Korea, with bellicose statements being made from time to time towards China and Russia .. but each time Trump then comes out with contradictory pronouncements a little while later, confusing everybody internationally and resulting in nobody taking him seriously!

You are actually the first person I have come across offering some kind of defence of Trump - every single person I know thinks he is a disaster and in the media, both here and in the USA, he seems to be seen as unpredictable and a liablity if, heaven forbid, decisions had to be made during a real war situation.

[Richard]

Trump is definitely not your typical teflon-coated, boring, grey politician.
Remember J. Major, T. May, G. Brown? They had little charisma at all.
Trump is rumbustious and says what he thinks, is incredibly manipulative and manages to portray the media as spreading fake stories behind his back, which he rounds on and tackles.
I am surprised nobody has noticed how skillfully this attack is managed, especially since it ends up with the media paying even more attention to his barbed insults.
Also witness his ability to turn the global discourse to his one-liner comments, this is so casually staged that it has to be deliberate.
I think he embodies the strengths of an industrial mogul, a capitalist in ways that allow him to both perceive and manipulate situations.
He's very good at being a junkyard dog, intimidating before the conflict and ruthless and vicious in it.
His manipulation has reached out to Americans who call him dumb, incompetent or ineffective. Painting Trump as someone stupid makes him dangerously underestimated and his detractors foolishly pious and superior.
His final conscious manipulation: Convince your enemies that they're right.

Otherwise its "The Power of Positive”. The author, Norman Vincent Peale, was his mentor, as a teen. Trump sees everything as really great, or big; always positive, failure us not in his mindset. He cannot even fathom negativity.
When he ridiculed the N. Korean situation he turned it around and unsettled Kim Wrong-un.
He is a master of strategy, wrong-foots people and uses psychology skilfully.

And yes! Trump is politically incorrect, says things which others are afraid to say.
He is not afraid to be unpopular as he is long as he thinks it is right most of the time.

[seahermit]

You are defending the indefensible, Richard, just for the sake of arguing. There is nothing clever or intelligent about Trump. He was a smart, bullying and ruthless operator in the business environment which brought him power and wealth. But now he is getting old, lacks any of the sensitivity and insight needed in negotiating with political figures at home and leaders abroad. He is an ingenue in the political world, hence his floundering and erratic behaviour.

Read any of the leading news sources, USA or UK, the whole weight of opinion is against you.